Which Laptop

[Lallan]

Looking for a laptop. It will have to cope with programming in C# and Linux. Also maths CAD, photo shop, sony vegas. A graphics card is essential as some light gaming will be done on it as well as 3d smax moddeling and also running of game engines.

Requires:

i7 or bery high end i5

6-8Gbytes of RAM.

Windows 7.

Backing storage can be anything from 250Gbytes upwards.

A graphics card (refer to above)

size MUST be UNDER 15.6"

Laptop under 3.2kg, preferable lighter.

No more than £1000

NOT a HP!!!

 

Any suggestions and also which one of these is the best for me. Please keep all suggestions in the UK. Thanks

 

 

 

1. Asus N55SL-S1188V

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-asus-n55sl-s1188v-intel-core-i7-2670qm-22ghz-6gb-ddr3-750gb-hdd-2gb-gt-635m-blu-ray-bluetooth-wi

 

2. VAIO E Series 14P

(see image for specifications as it is custom built) It is stated to have an AMD 7670M as well as intel intergrated 4000 ( I think it is almost an APU :S)

 

my laptop.png

 

3. Asus N56VM

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Update-review-Asus-N56VM-Notebook-with-GT-630M.77077.0.html

 

4. Lenovo IdeaPad Y580

http://shop.lenovo.com/gbweb/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y560

Edited July 26, 2012 by Lallan

[BudgieSmuggler]

I find ASUS G75VW-AS71 is good for DCS at full resolution (1920x1080) and fast enough CPU for my development needs (mostly programming, CPU hungry FPGA tools and PCB design) but it is 17". You can probably get a similar 15" but I doubt it will weigh < 3.2kg..

 

[Rhinox]

Get the one with the best graphic card. You can later upgrade cpu (yes, even in laptops), add ram, switch hd for faster/bigger/ssd, but you will have to live with gfx for the whole life-time of your laptop.

 

So out of those you picked up I would take Lenovo Y580. GTX-660/670M is by far the best what you can get in this price segment. Forget all those GT-***, that is low-end crap...

[Lallan]

I find ASUS G75VW-AS71 is good for DCS at full resolution (1920x1080) and fast enough CPU for my development needs (mostly programming, CPU hungry FPGA tools and PCB design) but it is 17". You can probably get a similar 15" but I doubt it will weigh < 3.2kg..

 

 

do you find your laptop very portable and when you use it out and about do you carry other books and files etc?

Edited July 27, 2012 by Lallan

[BudgieSmuggler]

do you find your laptop and when you use it out and about do you carry other books and files etc?

 

Umm not sure your question but yes, I find my laptop and use it out and about with other books and files.

 

I used an older model full time as my main PC for development support in the US for a couple of months with no problems and bought this to replace it. Most of the development I do is pretty CPU hungry and the 17" screen helps as well. This is the first laptop I have used with graphics that can approach running DCS at full screen resolution without too much slowdown. I had to give up flight training for the duration (stupid US flight training VISA and security requirements) so newly released DCS P51 was the only thing that kept me sane :)

 

And yes it is a bit heavy, the laptop on its own is OK but with a couple of books etc. the bag gets a little heavy. But I carry it back and forth to work by car all the time, it's not too unwieldy just gets a bit much if you have to walk around with it on your back for a long time.

 

I guess laptops are always a tradeoff between weight, battery life and performance.

 

Oh, and protip - you won't be able to use a high performance laptop running from airplane power, the socket disables itself if your laptop power supply is too grunty. Make sure you charge it in the terminal!

Edited July 27, 2012 by BudgieSmuggler

[WildBillKelsoe]

I have VPCEA16FA running win 7 HP x64. Plays BS2, A-10C, and P-51 so far. GPU HD Mobility radeo HD5650@ 1Gb dedicated. Probably under 1000 by now. 2010 sept purchase. Also ARMA 2 (medium to low) and FSX (low)

 

Looking to get a desktop per this thread:

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1518958&postcount=11

[Lallan]

I have VPCEA16FA running win 7 HP x64. Plays BS2, A-10C, and P-51 so far. GPU HD Mobility radeo HD5650@ 1Gb dedicated. Probably under 1000 by now. 2010 sept purchase. Also ARMA 2 (medium to low) and FSX (low)

 

Thanks for the comment but im not looking to do gaming of that level on a laptop if you read my OP you will see that it is more for programming and running GAME ENGINES and very very light gaming (one or 2 games max)!